Chapter VIII: The head of Mallius

„A head is a head and a lie is a lie.“ – Honorius

Gainas smashed the rests of Mallius Theodorus’ empire in the battle of Hippo in 408 AD. By then Numidia was already conquered by the Vandals and after the battle the Mauritanian coast fell also back to the empire. At Hippo even Mallius’ general died, but not, and that drove Gainas mad, the Usurper himself. Nobody actually knew where he was; maybe he was already dead and rotted in the dessert. But as long as there were no evidences of his death he would be a major problem for Gainas. The Mauritanian tribes, that raided the Vandalo-Roman coastal cities, never claimed to act on Mallius’ command and he wasn’t seen with them but people on Honorius’ court nevertheless suggested again and again that Mallius’ was behind their attacks and accused Gainas, to be unable or unwilling to finally find and kill the usurper.

In the winter of 408/409 Gainas made a radical decision; he sent his guard out in Sicilia and Carthago to find a man who should look as close to the usurper himself as possible. The guards took coins of Mallius’ image with them and studied the artworks that showed him before they left the palace.  Three weeks later they arrived with an old peasant, around Mallius’ age, who, even if he worked his whole life, had soft and pale skin. His eyes, nose and mouth looked like the ones of the usurper, only his haircut and his beard didn’t seem like Mallius at all, but a scissor here and there and he seemed pretty imperial. After the scissors the sword came and Gainas had a head he could proudly send to the Emperor in Arelate.

It was a dangerous and maybe mad plan to actually claim that this would be the head of Mallius Theodorus, but Gainas hoped on the one hand that no one would notice that it isn’t Mallius and on the other that even if the Emperor would notice that he wouldn’t do anything because he would be satisfied with this solution. But Gainas was wrong, many people on Honorius’ court had seen Mallius before, they knew how he looked like, were aware of the little details of his face and could tell that this is not the usurper. Gainas attempt to fool the Emperor didn’t stay a secret, the news spread over the Empire and Honorius had to act. It was thanks to the influence of the young Empress Flavia, that the Britannian usurper Constantinus was spared by Honorius forces for now. The fleet which was built on the channel coast in the last years to challenge Constantinus’ fleet, which was actually the former Roman fleet in this area, was moved further to the south, in order to bring Honorius armies from Hispania to Mauretania. From here on they were supposed to fight their way through northern Africa to Carthago and find Mallius and destroy the Vandals.

Before even a single battle was fought Gainas was found dead in Carthago, killed by conspirators, whose goal it was to prevent a war with Rome and the potential fall of the Vandal Empire. It was rumoured that the head of the conspiration was King Godigisel himself, who tried to escape out of the shadow of his popular advisor and general. Only a few days later the King was dead, assassinated but no one knew who was behind it. The King’s son and designated heir Gunderic, claimed that his brother Geiseric would be his father’s murderer. Geiseric on the other hand accused Gunderic of killing their father and Gainas, who was Geiseric’s patron. Supported by the Gainasian group in Carthago Geiseric ordered to kill Gunderic and his family. He also organised the marriage between him and Gainas’ daughter, which included killing her husband. After eliminating his enemies in the Empire, he changed the course of foreign policy. He allied with the Mauretanians against the Romans and promised them the land west of Caesarea and also the hinterland apart the coast east of it.

In the summer of 409 the Roman fleet was defeated by the Vandals near Sardinia, mostly because of the lack of experience on the Roman side. The most of the surviving ships switched sides and conquered, instead of Africa, Sardinia. On land the Romans also lost their luck and were beaten, after first successes, by united Vandal and Mauretanian forces. In the end of the year the last Roman forces were driven out of Mauretania. Even Tripolitania, which was not under Vandalian control before the war, was conquered by Geiseric. In the first months of 410 also Corsica and the Balearic Islands fell to the Vandals. The rests of the Imperial fleet were smashed in the summer and Rome suffered under starvation and plagues, caused by the blockade of Ostia and Portus by the Vandals.

Honorius showed unable to handle the situation, especially because the Empire’s legions were needed on the northern border against the rebellious Germanics. In the middle of this unstable situation, two children were born in the spring of 411, two sons, one to Honorius, named Theodosius, one to Geiseric, named Gainas.

Map 

The Western and parts of the Eastern Roman Empire in 411 AD.

Red=Western Empire; Light Red=Goth; Striped=other foederati

Brown=Vandals

Purple=Eastern Empire
Magenta=Britannian Empire
Yellow=Gepids